Using CCU and CCS Technologies
SK Innovation is gearing up to make its Ulsan Complex a model of net-zero emissions for global petrochemical plants. The complex, which is the company’s main production base, is actively utilizing carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology to reduce carbon dioxide, the main culprit behind greenhouse gas emissions.
SK Innovation’s Ulsan Complex started a CCU project in 2003 and has been yielding tangible results. In the past, carbon dioxide generated in the process of manufacturing hydrogen was used as fuel along with other gases without being separated. Then it was discharged into the atmosphere as it is not burnt. The Ulsan Complex started a business to recover and sell carbon dioxide in consideration of the air environmental issues caused by emissions.
Low-purity hydrogen is generated in the hydrogen manufacturing process of the heavy oil upgrading (HOU) facility at Petroleum Plant 1 of the Ulsan Complex. Carbon dioxide is separated and recovered from low-purity hydrogen through an absorption and separation process at a separate recovery facility. Afterwards, high-purity carbon dioxide gas will be supplied to companies, which use it for etching semiconductors, welding, making dry ice and cultivating plants.
Based on these achievements, the company plans to recover carbon dioxide from its hydrogen manufacturing process at Petroleum Plant 2 starting next year and supply it to factories near Ulsan. As a result, its carbon dioxide sales business is expected to grow to more than 300,000 tons per year.
Apart from the CCU project, SK Innovation is also promoting the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. SK Innovation and SK Energy signed a business agreement with Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) in September to undertake a state-funded project to test CCS technology at a gas field in the East Sea.
To this end, SK Innovation is carrying out a business feasibility study on the introduction of optimal carbon capture technology to the hydrogen manufacturing process at Petroleum Plant 3 of the Ulsan CLX. It plans to develop an empirical model by 2023 and push forward with a CCS demonstration project in earnest as early as 2025.
“SK Innovation and SK Energy will explore new business opportunities through Korea’s first large-scale CCS demonstration project, such as securing greenhouse gas emission rights, boosting hydrogen plant efficiency and promoting fuel cell power generation using blue hydrogen,” said Seo Kwan-hee, head of process innovation at SK Innovation. “These projects will help us establish a decarbonization model for petrochemical plants and lay the foundation for SK Innovation to achieve net zero 2050.”